Russian billionaire’s son must explain what happened to £13m, says judge

A London trader embroiled in his divorced parents’ high-profile fight over money must explain what happened to around £13 million his Russian billionaire father has given him in the past 20 months, a High Court judge said.

Temur Akhmedov’s mother, Tatiana Akhmedova, is fighting for nearly £450 million she is owed by his father, Farkhad Akhmedov.

Ms Akhmedova says her ex-husband has tried to put assets – including a £346 million yacht, the MV Luna, and a modern art collection – beyond her reach.

She has also taken legal action against Temur Akhmedov, who is 26 and lives in London, saying he has played a “central role” in putting assets beyond her reach.

Judges have made orders aimed at preventing assets being dissipated.

Temur Akhmedov on Monday asked Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles to relax an asset freezing order so he could borrow £2.2 million against his home, bought for £29 million in 2013, and pay lawyers’ bills.

Lawyers representing him told the judge, at the latest in a series of virtual, hearings in the Family Division of the High Court, that he had “sustained substantial losses as a trader”.

They said he had no assets worth more than £10,000, apart from his home.

Mrs Justice Knowles said that was “rather surprising” because evidence showed that, since January 2019, he had received about 17 million US dollars (£13 million) from his father.

She said the son could borrow £2.2 million against his home, but must first produce a statement explaining what had happened to the money he had received from his father since January 2019.

Temur Akhmedov disputes allegations made against him by his mother.

He says his father said money would be available to invest on the financial market.

Ms Akhmedova was awarded a 41.5% share of Farkhad Akhmedov’s £1 billion-plus fortune by a London judge in late 2016.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave, who analysed that case in a trial at the Family Division of the High Court in London, said Ms Akhmedova should get £453 million, but judges have heard she has so far received about £5 million and Mr Akhmedov has not “voluntarily” paid a penny.

Farkhad Akhmedov has said that because he and his ex-wife are not British, and were not married in Britain, a British judge should not have made decisions.